Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more […]

Startup to Watch: MySense

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.

This week, we’re interviewing Lucie Glenday, Founder and CEO of MySense.ai, a wellbeing analytics platform that helps users achieve an awareness of how subtle changes in their health can manifest as changes in wellbeing and their ability to cope in their day to day lives. MySense is growing rapidly thanks to a number of global partnerships and a strong, capable team. They are on track to have their wellbeing platform in over 100,000 homes around the world. We look forward to seeing what they achieve (and they’re hiring for a Frontend Lead, a Senior Severless AWS/NodeJS Engineer, a Business Analyst and a Java/IoT/Linux Engineer on Work in Startups!)

What would you say MySense’s mission is?

To help people with vulnerabilities live as independently as possible for as long as possible with dignity. Whether you are 80 or 25, have complex physical or mental health concerns, we want to give you the tools and information necessary to be as independent as possible. We also want to give these tools and information to your support network.

What are your values as a startup employer?

Being positively brilliant! We see ourselves as a family that doesn’t follow the crowd. We aren’t afraid to ask difficult questions and be wrong – this is important for growth and development.

As for the people that we recruit, we put people’s personability before skills and experience. We firmly believe that you can teach skills and experience, but it’s harder (if not impossible) to change someone’s personality and attitude. In conjunction with this, we really value compulsive learners – so people that are always hungry to learn more and grow. Lastly, we look for people that are respectful and actively listen. There are people that listen but you know they’re not really taking it in. We want people that absorb and digest what others are saying before showcasing their own views and opinions.

We have a 5/5 rating on Glassdoor, which I believe is reflective of the time and effort we put into ensuring we get the right people through the door. We ask a lot of tough questions in the interview process and it’s definitely quite intense, but it’s a key reason we have such an incredible work force. It’s also partly why we have such a low churn rate – until a month ago we didn’t lose anyone we didn’t want to lose! This is also reflective of the fact that staff love working here and we invest in our employees.

We are also a globally focused work force and continually challenge each other in terms of our cultural biases, which is another great thing about MySense. For example, we don’t want to just focus on white, western assumptions of wellbeing – we want to challenge these from an Asian and African perspective to develop a more holistic understanding of the term.

Separately, we want to make sure that MySense is a safe place to work, whilst also being inspiring and challenging. This is especially important given that no startup is ever fully liquid and there can be lots of stresses. I think we’ve managed to find the right balance and developed a great, supportive culture where we all respect one another and are motivated by the same mission.

What has your growth been like?

I founded MySense in 2016, so it’s three and a half years old now! In the first year it was just me, but we’ve since grown to 42 people and growth projections are huge for the upcoming financial year. We’ve partnered with a number of care organisations in the UK and we’re rapidly expanding our global partnerships – it’s an exciting time.

We recruit a real mixed bag of people because we’re after a load of different skills. We have deep technical engineers, ops and finance managers, supply chain type people, a commercial team and clinicians! We’re looking to expand on all fronts over the next few years.

What does 2020 hold in store for MySense?

As I’ve mentioned above, we’re growing! We’re also extremely fortunate with our partners in the market. We have some large partners in the network and large contracts, but we’re also looking to expand in the marketplace and become a lot more visible.

We want to spend a lot more time on the brand elements, for example on product placement and we’re looking forward to working with large companies like McCarthy & Stone. Expect to see roll out across those companies in 2020!

We’re also expanding into two new territories. MySense was incorporated in Canada last year and we’re launching in the Canadian market later in the year! Plans to launch in a European territory are also in the works.

Do you have any advice for people thinking about founding their own startup but currently unsure?

There’s a huge element of luck, which can’t be underplayed. Often, it’s about being at the right place at the right time. What works for one person, in virtue of the people they have spoken to and know etc., won’t work for another.

If it doesn’t work, just keep going! Tenacity is key – you’ve got to be a bulldozer and believe in yourself. There will be people along the way that won’t believe in your vision and won’t think it’s going to work. If you can keep going despite this and tune out the white noise – this is a great step!

Also, don’t underestimate the power of a great team. If you have a core team of brilliant people around you that share your vision, this counts for a huge amount. They challenge you on a daily basis, and you’ve got to make sure you are believing in them and their ability as much as you believe in yourself!

And lastly, founding a startup is very hard work. I have three kids and I’m always busy. I take the kids to school first thing in the morning, I then go to work and do a full day at the office before coming home in the evenings and putting food on the table. After I’ve put the kids to bed, I then keep working! If I decided to work a 9-5, MySense wouldn’t have happened – you’ve got to work really, really hard to make your dream a reality. It’s tough building something from the ground up!

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more […]

Startup to Watch: GoSweat

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.

This week, we’re interviewing Steph Newport-Booth, Co-Founder of GoSweat: a wellness benefit for companies that gives their employees the freedom to discover and book 1000s of fitness and wellbeing experiences. She describes it as “doing for fitness what Tripadvisor has done for travel or JustEats for takeaways”.

Hi Steph, what would you say GoSweat’s mission is?

To offer any activity, at any time, to anyone! When it comes to our own employees – we want to be able to offer them any experience that they want and support their physical health. We don’t want to offer them the standard ‘gym membership’ that most startup companies offer their employees. Instead, we want to give them the freedom and flexibility to do the classes that they enjoy and that support their physical and mental wellbeing. If they want to use Pure Gym or have physiotherapy – they can do this all through GoSweat. We’re the best company perk out there!

What are your values as a startup employer?

Commitment, collaboration, autonomy and fun! We work with companies, so success and growing the business really starts within our office and making it a comfortable, friendly and fun place to work.

Also, everyone that works here has a real commitment to our mission: getting people into fitness! We’re a start up that has a real drive, and the people who work here have a connection to sport and activities and want to share that with as many people as possible.

Myself and Alex, my Co-Founder, did the Aldi Area Manager Graduate Scheme and whilst we were very well paid, and it was clear that we were looked after financially, the benefits were very black and white. Both of us are passionate about fitness and well-being, so we were looking at employee perks like cheaper gym memberships etc. – and they weren’t that good and didn’t really meet our needs. We realised that this was the norm, across startups and bigger corporates! And when it comes to booking experiences, and fun sporting activities like boxing and climbing, there are so many barriers in terms of price.

The “go to” thing is to give your employees gym memberships, and this is very outdated. Employers get around 5.4% of actual engagement with this method. However with GoSweat, engagement jumps to 83%. That’s crazy different! This is because employees can book a range of things: high-board diving, massages, rock climbing – you name it.

How have you guys grown since GoSweat was founded in 2016?

It has been pretty crazy. Over the past few years, the GoSweat team has grown massively, as have the number of companies we work with. From a personal perspective, GoSweat doesn’t just feel like it’s my startup anymore: it belongs to everyone who uses it and works here. We all see where we are heading and we’re motivated to get there! We truly want to conquer the country!

Our growth in 2019 in particular was pretty astonishing. In January 2019, 8 of us were working out of a pretty small office. Now we’ve moved into a 35-50 people office and there are 15 of us! We’ve nearly doubled our workforce and hope to fill up our new office in 2020. And we think we can – the fitness industry is massive, there’s room for nimble startup operators like ourselves to disrupt things, and we have plenty of opportunity to chase down. There’s a lot of scope for us to grow.

What’s next for GoSweat in the UK and internationally?

We want to conquer the country! We’re launching in 12 new cities in the UK this year, and in 2021 we might go international. We essentially want to cover all the cities where companies want GoSweat and don’t have it. We also want to continue expanding the number of experiences we offer.

What do you look for in an employee?

We look for the kind of people that share our passion and enthusiasm for trying new things, however weird and wacky! For example, last night we all decided to go trampolining. It was last minute and spontaneous, but everyone was very keen and we had the best time. People can have amazing CVs and experience, but when you talk to them they’re not that interested in trying new experiences, which is kind of what our startup company stands for! We also want people that are energetic, outgoing and easy to get along with. You spend the majority of your time at work, so why not enjoy it?

What advice would you give to people thinking about founding their own company but currently unsure? What about people just leaving school/university?

The best advice I can give is to think about the best thing that could happen. Don’t focus on the worst that could happen. You’ve got to think positively about what you are doing and where you are going, and you’ve got to think that you can make the best case scenario happen! It’s especially important to have a positive mindset at the beginning, because things can get tough.

Also, don’t found a startup by yourself! It’s always good to go into it with a partner (or two!) that you know you can rely on. As I’ve said, the path to success is not always linear and being a founder can be quite tough. It’s invaluable having other people to share the load. But, as the saying goes: “too many chefs spoil the broth”! More than three startup founders can be a bit too much.

And don’t be afraid to bootstrap something together. We didn’t have any funding for the first two and a half years, so very much funnelled our own money into building GoSweat at the beginning. When we did get funding, however, it was invaluable. It gives you rocket fuel to expand and develop your product offering.

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more […]

Startup to Watch: Bark.com

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders and employees across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.

This week, we’re interviewing Kai Feller, Co-Founder of Bark.com – the UK’s biggest online local services marketplace. Bark.com is expanding fast across the globe, hiring equally as fast and fundamentally changing the way we source local services. It has also repeatedly shunned venture capital opportunities, preferring instead to be self-funded.

Hi Kai! What would you say Bark.com’s mission is?

Bark’s mission is to ultimately be the Amazon of services. We want to bring services online and into the 21st century as we feel that this side of things has been left behind. It’s easy to buy and sell products online, but it’s not easy to buy and sell services online and we’re at the forefront of companies changing this. We’ve only just got rid of the yellow pages! The marketplace for services is still very old-fashioned.

On the consumer side, we want individuals to come on Bark.com and be able to find a professional for any service they are looking for and a solution that fits their needs. For example, if they are looking for a dog walker, we want to give them the option of buying that service there and then, or just browsing options for purchase at a later date. Alternatively, they could be looking for a web designer – we want to provide the experience that they want and need.

On the professional side, we want to help service providers grow their businesses by getting online and connecting with customers. They are not usually online marketing professionals, so we want to take that burden away from them and allow them to focus on what they are good at – providing their services; be they carpentry, nails or hair, for example. We want to help these professionals across the globe.

Can you tell us about your growth over the past few years? What’s next for Bark.com in the UK and globally?

We launched in January 2015 and started off in a typical startup style: in a flat, bootstrapping something together. We spent the first couple of years throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what stuck. We tried three different business models and finally found one that worked for us a couple of years ago, which I would say transformed us into a ‘proper company’.

Now we’re a team of 50 all working out of our Paddington office. Bark.com is live in the US, South Africa and Canada as well as the UK, but we don’t currently have any workers outside of the UK. We run all of our global operations from our London office. On a separate note, we’re also cash generative and profitable – quite significantly. We’re already turning over well over £20m. We urgently need to reinvest in the hiring side to accelerate growth even more, so expect to see us hiring like crazy in 2020!

I would still say though that Bark is in beta. We have a product up and running, but we recognise it’s still imperfect and a lot of 2020 will be focused on really making it a better experience for the end user. We want to build something properly powerful and valuable. On the consumer side, we want to create tailored experiences for everyone coming on the site. On the professional side, we want to provide a suite of tools to facilitate that and turn Bark into an absolute must for any small business, instead of a value-adding thing. To do something like that, we need an amazing team, which is why recruitment is a massive priority for us in 2020. We need the best people.

We’ll also continue expanding internationally in 2020. We’re looking at launching in 5-10 new countries next year, all from the UK, so keep your eyes peeled!

What do you look for in an employee?

We look for people that are confident and exceptional. They must have great written and verbal communication skills (this is crucial), and must be very personable and a team player. Everyone in the Bark team is like that and if they’re not, they aren’t going to fit. Like any start up we face complex problems on a daily basis and we move very fast, so communication is incredibly important.

If you’re results-driven, innovative and a team player – you’ll fit right in at Bark.com. We want people that thrive on autonomy and make jumps, not steps. This is a pretty big deal to us, because we’re still at the stage where you can make a jump and add 20% to the business.

Ambitious and driven people also do well here. We love people that are passionate and like being challenged. This is especially important because we’re growing rapidly and looking to expand our team from 50 to 100 next year. This will naturally mean shifting more responsibility onto the team, so we need people that are adaptable, switched on, smart and ambitious.

We also want people who contribute to our company culture. You need to enjoy who you are working with as this is what keeps people motivated and thriving.

Do you offer any company perks?

A whole suite of them. We offer share options, private healthcare, a fully stocked kitchen, team lunches every friday and regular socials once a month, among other things. When we have our socials, they’re pretty huge and we definitely don’t hold back!

We also (and most importantly!) offer an unsolved problem and a challenging puzzle for employees to wrap their heads around. How do we transform Bark.com into the Amazon of services?

What’s your professional background? Do you have any advice for young people just starting their careers?

When I left university, I had a few options on the table. I had an offer from Cambridge to do a masters and an offer from JP Morgan in the investment banking division. Instead, I started a business called Socialite – which launched my career in the startup space and really led me to where I am today.

In terms of advice I would give young people just starting their careers, I would say do something that you’re passionate about, find interesting and think you could be involved in for the rest of your life. Once you get started in a career, it can be quite difficult to change path. Also, be ambitious and aim high. It’s better to aim high and only achieve half of your goals (or fail!) than to not to have difficult and ambitious goals in the first place. Lastly, network like crazy! I cannot stress enough how important this is. Not only will networking open up a load of opportunities, but it will also help you launch your own startup (if this is what you want!)

Do you have any advice for those thinking about founding their own startup but currently unsure?

If you have a startup idea, don’t think it’s “all in or all out”. Bootstrap something and play around with how it would work. If you are passionate about it, spend your free time on it: evenings, weekends and holidays. Also, speak to as many people as possible about your idea and get involved in the UK startup scene – which really is incredible and very nurturing. There are a tonne of people willing to give you advice and help you out.

If you do end up doing it full-time, be prepared for the hard work! Everyone faces hurdles and challenges (this is practically part of the job description!) and the people who are successful are the people who persevere.

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders across the country and find out more about their […]

Startup To Watch: Zen Educate

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.

Our mission is to improve the education system. Zen Educate is an accredited social enterprise, so it’s core to who we are. All schools need teachers and traditionally if a teacher is away, they call a recruitment agent. This is poor value for money and inefficient. We help schools cut out the middleman by providing an online platform for their hiring needs. This helps them save time and money, and it also helps teachers take back control, as they know where and when they can work in advance, and benefit from exceptional support and great rates.

Your growth over the past few years has been pretty astonishing. What does 2020 hold in store for Zen Educate?

As you’ve mentioned, we’ve just raised £5.6m in funding from Brighteye Ventures, an EdTech focused European VC, and this comes off the back of significant business growth. We’re tripling as a business year over year and hiring more people as a result. 6 months ago, we were a team of 20 and now we’re a team of 50 – which is an exciting place to be.

We currently work with over 4,000 teachers in Greater London and Manchester, not to mention numerous schools, and there’s definitely a lot of room to grow in these areas. We’re also launching in Birmingham in Q1 of 2020, which we’re looking forward to. Beyond the UK, inefficiencies in education staffing exist all over the world and few companies are poised to do something about this. A few education staffing platforms are having a lot of success in the US, but this business model has yet to reach continental Europe, Asia and Africa. As such, there are enormous global opportunities for Zen Educate.

What do you look for in an employee?

Value fit is key. Without giving too much away, we’re very deliberate about our hiring process and hire people who closely align with Zen Educate’s values.

We look for three main things:

People that care about what we do – if the mission inspires you, that’s a big reason to join

People that act like owners who thrive on autonomy

People that push themselves to be better by consistently choosing greatness over comfort

Do you have any advice for young people just starting their careers?

Life is short and fleeting, so work on stuff that means something to you. Even if this means changing your career drastically, do it. Life is too short to not be doing work that matters to you.

Do you have any advice for those thinking about founding their own startup but currently unsure?

Do it x1,000,000. You want to tell your grandkids about the person you became, not the person you could have been, so don’t wait! Once you decide to take the leap, speak to people and get advice. Find successful founders and suck up information from them like a sponge. Founders love helping other Founders. This will help you navigate challenges and opportunities that come your way.

On a personal note, before co-founding Zen Educate, I worked at Nutmeg – a very successful startup – for a few years. I went on that journey from the small team to a big team and learnt a lot in the process. Going on a journey with another company in the early stages is a great way to learn what it takes to build a successful company.

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders across the country and find out more about their […]

Startup To Watch: Verisart

Here at Work In Startups, we’re on a mission to champion the best and most exciting startups in the UK. To support this, we’re starting a new blog series highlighting some of the most innovative and fast-growing startups around. Follow us as we interview startup founders across the country and find out more about their goals and ambitions, what the future holds and (for all you startup jobseekers out there looking for the inside scoop) what they look for in a prospective employee.

This week, we’re interviewing Robert Norton, CEO and Founder of Verisart – the world’s leading platform for certifying and verifying artworks and collectibles using the Bitcoin blockchain. Verisart has just raised $2.5 million in seed funding and is growing fast, hiring equally as fast, and radically disrupting the art industry.

What would you say Verisart’s mission is? What are your values?

Our mission is to build trust and advance cultures by empowering people to secure objects of value and transact with confidence. Before founding Verisart, it was clear to me how widespread fraud was in the physical art business and how untrustworthy many of the parties were. I realised that image recognition, blockchain and museum-grade certification standards could be leveraged to change this – so this is what Verisart has set out to do! Through registering and tracking collectibles and artworks, authentic and fake artworks can be easily identified.

As for our values, our primary asset is our people and our strengths result from how we work together as a team. We need a great team to build great products. Our core values are our ‘Big T’s’: Time, Tenacity, Talking, Trust and Team. However, we are equally committed to the following:

· Forward Motion & First Principles: each failure brings us one step closer to success

· Interdependent: self-reliance and personal responsibility carry us so far but interdependence carries us further

· Responsibility: be a first responder and responsible for fixing things with integrity

· Merit: attract the world’s best talent and promote based on merit

You guys have achieved some fantastic growth! What’s next for Verisart?

First and foremost, we’re improving the tech that we already have. We’re also going to launch some premium products and services – so keep your eyes peeled! We want users to have more control in terms of granularity. For example, there may be certain parts of the certificate that users are willing to share, but others, such as past purchase history, that they are unwilling to share. The ability to lock down certain parts of your record would be really valuable to some of our customers. Furthermore, we want to shift the certificate from being a digital representation to being a tradable thing of value. We ultimately want the certificate to live in your wallet because of the flexibility this brings. People will, presumably, want to use the certificate for different purposes and we want to facilitate this. A Fairtrade Art Certificate is also on the horizon….

I see that you have been hiring for quite a few techie roles – what’s great about your startup tech team?

They’re incredibly entrepreneurial, agile and passionate. Everyone who works at Verisart believes the business is a good use of blockchain technology. They are inspired by the potential of the blockchain to create a new standard for certification and want to make sense of the increasing amount of data that is becoming available for people in the art market. At Verisart, we also operate on a flat hierarchy. We value everyone’s ideas and want the entire team to be involved in decision-making, which, I believe, sets us apart! The team is also very experienced. Our CTO, Paul Duncan, was the founding CTO of Borro – the online lending platform for luxury assets. Our VP of Engineering likewise has a strong security background. Peter Todd, a Bitcoin core developer, and Dr. Ahmed Elgammal, Professor of the Art & Artificial Intelligence Lab at Rutgers University, also advise us.

What do you look for in an employee?

A range of things. We look for people that are active listeners – so people that fully concentrate, understand, respond and then remember what is being said. We also want people that are compassionate coachers, so help others understand what they need to do to be better at their job. Most importantly, however, we want people that fully show up and bring their full self to work. To thrive at Verisart, you’ve got to be energetic, entrepreneurial and passionate about our mission! Our mantra is “if you forget all of our values, be kind, show gratitude to others and seek to help and grow the company.”

Do you have any pearls of wisdom for young startup co-founders?

Focus on the narrative of what you’re about to do. Imagine that you have already achieved what you want to achieve – is this the lifestyle that you want? At the end of the day, your company has to support your personal goals. I’m not just talking about financial goals – being a boss can be stressful and the hours are long. Think carefully about whether you want this. Also, being a big storyteller and communicator will really work in your favour! You have to be able to paint a clear picture of your mission, your goals and how you’ll reach them, and why your start up is unique. This will help you secure funding and attract great talent. You also need to be incredibly tenacious as this is the fuel that will get you through your journey. Starting your own business isn’t all plain sailing – there are bumps in the road and you need the determination to keep going. Perhaps the biggest piece of advice I can give, however, is that your choice of startup co-founder is really important. You need to partner with someone that is passionate, driven and shares the same goals as you.